


Warmer Weather

by shamebucket



Category: Togainu no Chi
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Developing Relationship, M/M, No Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-19
Packaged: 2018-02-04 11:50:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1778008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shamebucket/pseuds/shamebucket
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keisuke is asked to tutor the delinquent kid who keeps skipping out of class. He takes it upon himself to go above and beyond what was originally asked of him. Like most everything else regarding said delinquent, things do not go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmer Weather

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in a really long time so sorry about any errors! I futzed with some age and other details to fit the AU better but I didn't intentionally drastically change characterization. I also decided to not use honorifics... sry. The only content warning for the first chapter is a mention of smoking. As for the rest of the fic, if you can handle what happens in the game, you can definitely handle this fic - upsetting stuff will be hinted at/spoken about but never shown onscreen. If you need warnings, I'll link them in later chapters, feel free to message me anon (or not) on tumblr if you have concerns. Also I am so sorry I haven't been in high school in six years so I forget a lot of the stuff I learned... whoops...

 ~~~~~~~~

 

 

Keisuke chewed on his eraser, trying to focus on the assignment in front of him. The first semester of his third year was difficult, but things were passing by far faster than he was anticipating; it was already the middle of May and summer was swiftly approaching. Outside, the sky was blue and had the texture of old-fashioned glass, contrasting with the light budding greens of promised hotter and more humid days. This assignment simply wasn't going anywhere - despite getting good grades, he always had issues translating Japanese into English. The grammar was a little too complicated, and it had been a long day. Keisuke wanted to go outside. Sighing, he decided to take a break from struggling over the sentence he was working on and stared out the window, slumping his face against his palm. 

This was his last spring before having to worry about university entrance exams. The thought of that was a little bit daunting to Keisuke - he didn't particularly consider himself exceptionally smart, but he always did his best. That said, he knew that was the case of many other students. He just had to tell himself to not think about it, to not think about the future that was creeping up on him swiftly, until he couldn't ignore it anymore. Otherwise he probably wouldn't ever be able to concentrate on anything out of worry, and Akira kept on telling him he worried far too much. Akira always knew best when it came to that. 

He looked around the classroom. Akira was sitting a row in front of him and to the right, concentrating on the piece of paper and writing very deliberately. His brows were knitted and his cheeks puffed out slightly as he carefully formed the letters on his paper. Keisuke considered trying to text Akira or something because it was sixth period and the teacher was busy grading assignments, but he figured it would be better to not disturb him at this point. A few seats to the left of him and to the back, Rin was covertly tapping on his phone underneath his desk. Probably texting his boyfriend, who went to a different high school. They had been dating since middle school and somehow they had stayed together through all these years; Rin always gushed about Kazui and about how cool he was to Akira and Keisuke (and also divulged other details that made Keisuke blush). It was a bit much sometimes, but Keisuke found it cute for the most part. Other classmates looked as eager to get outside as he was; one boy had even put away all of his supplies, clutching onto his bag impatiently, as if he had forgotten that homeroom, clean-up, and clubs were after this. 

Unsurprisingly, the seat in the back right corner was empty again. The student who sat there never really talked much and was skipping classes after lunch at an increasing rate since the term started. Keisuke had never been in a class with him until this semester, but he had certainly heard rumors. "Ah, that guy," Rin's voice echoed in his head. "Don't worry about him. He's trouble - I was in class with him my first year and he was always picking fights with people over trivial shit. And not just students too - teachers! I mean, I admire his guts and all but there's a time and place where you get into fights, y'know?" Rin had paused, lowering his voice a notch. "He didn't used to always wear an eyepatch, either. That happened between second and third year. Some kids say he got in a fight where he seriously fucked up some guy from another school." 

Rin had far more social connections than Keisuke, a bit unsurprising considering that Keisuke had decided to focus on studying since he entered high school and did not join any clubs for that reason, whereas Rin had been one of the best players on the rugby team for a few years now. Rin's older brother went to school on scholarship for his skill at kendo, so Rin was trying to fill the shoes his brother had left behind while forging a path for himself, Keisuke supposed. It wasn't as if rugby didn't suit Rin, at any rate - he enjoyed it and got along with all of his teammates. Through all of that, though, Rin had access to more information than either Keisuke or Akira had, and whether they asked for it or not, they often relied on Rin's knowledge of other students. 

Not that Akira was unpopular - that wasn't true at all. He mostly kept to himself, but he had many admirers for his natural ability in math and his excellent grades, as well as his skill in the judo club. It also probably helped that puberty had been very kind to Akira and blessed him with clear skin, beautiful almond-shaped eyes, and a well-toned body. Akira never bragged about it and mostly kept to himself despite everything - Keisuke had never heard Akira say anything, but he suspected that Akira could tell that the other students only wanted Akira's attention for a taste of the popularity. Keisuke had the benefit of realizing these things about Akira since they had been close friends - nearly brothers - for as long as he could remember, and they did homework together and hung out a few times every week after Akira was done with judo practice. 

Keisuke shook his head and looked at the empty desk again. Despite what Rin said, sometimes Keisuke did worry. Nothing that kept him up at night, of course, but it was highly unusual to skip school as much as that delinquent did. Could he even graduate at this rate? Why would he throw all of his work to get into this high school down the toilet? He supposed it was none of his concern, but maybe Rin was wrong about him. That said, Rin had often warned him about trusting people too easily. Keisuke sighed and looked out the window again, and his eyes widened a little. 

The kid was outside, standing by the school gate. There was no way it could have been anybody else - nobody else in school had hair that shade of blue, nor did anybody else wear an eyepatch. The hoodie he wore underneath his uniform jacket and gaudy, brightly colored shoes were other giveaways, had he been uncertain. It was hard to see what he was doing, but he seemed to be waiting for someone, perhaps... slightly irritated? Nervous? He paced around a little, putting his hand up to his mouth (to chew his nails? Keisuke had noticed him doing that before), before pulling out his (severely outdated) cellphone and tapping at it. 

Keisuke straightened himself up and narrowed his eyes to try to see more clearly. He didn't know why he was so interested, but he couldn't pull his attention away. Maybe it was because, while Rin had more or less reliable information about other people in this school, this kid was still a mystery as he always kept to himself. Maybe Keisuke was looking for anything to stop paying attention to his assignment. No - it must have been envy for the slight breeze that very slightly distressed his short hair. The student outside leaned against the gate, and Keisuke saw his shoulders slump, hands in loose but slightly shaking fists. What was going on out there? What was he doing? 

He wouldn't have a chance to stare outside for much longer. The bell rang, and immediately the classroom became filled with sounds of shuffling papers and idle conversation. Rin walked up to Keisuke and Akira's desks and sighed melodramatically. 

"Man, that assignment seemed to take foreverrrr." He pouted. "Can I see your answers to the last couple of questions? I was having some real issues." He looked over to Keisuke's desk and blinked. "Huh? You didn't finish? Usually you're always on top of it." 

Embarrassed, Keisuke shook his head and smiled apologetically. "Ah, no... I guess the weather was getting to me." Rin smirked and was about to open his mouth when Akira interjected. 

"Don't tease Keisuke. You can look at my answers." Akira said it bluntly, as he always did, handing over the paper to Rin. "Just try not to copy me word for word." 

"Cool! Thanks, pal." Rin ruffled Akira's hair, causing the grey-haired boy to furrow his brow slightly. Rin turned to Keisuke, an eyebrow raised, evidently not done with him. "What got to you, though? You almost always have every assignment fully done by the end of class." 

"I -" Keisuke looked outside and looked towards the school gate. There was nobody there. 

"It was just the weather." 

 

~~~~~~~~ 

 

The kid didn't show up at school the next day until fourth period. He slid into the classroom as silently as he could, drawing as little attention as possible while the other students talked amongst each other, waiting for the teacher came in to start his lecture on calculus. Normally Keisuke would try to not stare or pay attention, but he couldn't help but notice that the student looked exceedingly tired today. When he thought no one was looking, he tried sneaking covert glances to the back, watching as the delinquent struggled to keep up with the lecture and stay awake. The pen he was holding drifted occasionally as his eyelid drooped. Once, it fell with a small clack to the floor and it startled him - Keisuke was pretty sure he was the only one who noticed, but the guy's face reddened a little and his jaw clenched as he picked up his pen and started writing furiously again in pointed, deliberate strokes. 

As soon as the bell rung for lunch, the delinquent picked up his book-bag and headed out of the classroom, leaving as quickly and quietly as he had entered. Had anybody even noticed he came in? Keisuke frowned a little at the thought as Akira and Rin joined desks and gestured for Keisuke to join them. Just as Keisuke picked up his desk to join them, his homeroom teacher called to him from doorway. 

"Oi. Keisuke. Come here a moment, would you?" 

Motomi was their chemistry teacher as well as their homeroom teacher, and was definitely one of the better teachers that Keisuke had this year. One of the things that Motomi had mentioned was that he wanted his students to engage in critical thought, so while he didn't make things impossibly difficult for the students to figure out, he often let the students figure things out for themselves, amongst themselves, instead of being fed the answers like many other teachers liked to do. While that might seem like a hands-off approach to some other students, Keisuke thought it decidedly wasn't - Motomi listened to all of the conversations and interjected when they were going way off track. He was laid-back and kind, Keisuke thought, like a second dad. 

So it surprised him when there was a layer of seriousness hidden underneath Motomi's smile when he called Keisuke over to the hallway. Rin gave Akira a look, and then Keisuke, as if to ask, _What did you do to get in trouble?_ Keisuke had no idea, as he considered himself a decent student (if not a good one), and had to force himself to not worry. Everything must be fine. He was sure he had turned in all of his assignments and had gotten good grades on them... right? 

Keisuke put down his desk and breathed in, trying to calm himself. "Um, sure." He could feel Rin's eyes still boring into him, so he shrugged, hopefully small and quick enough for Motomi to not notice. Rin narrowed his eyes a little but shrugged in return, opening up his boxed lunch. Keisuke sighed and walked towards the door. 

Motomi smiled at him. "Ah, thank you. Sorry to interrupt your lunch, but would you mind taking a brief walk with me?" Keisuke tried not to crinkle his nose; Motomi smelled very strongly of cigarettes and an aftershave he used to try to cover up the smell. It never worked, and everybody knew that Motomi smoked on his breaks, so Keisuke wasn't really sure why he bothered trying to hide it. Keisuke, trying to breathe through his mouth for a minute until he got used to the smell, nodded an affirmation. Motomi grinned and patted Keisuke on the shoulder. "Good, I knew you were a good kid. Come with me." 

They walked down the corridor in silence for a moment. While Motomi still had a serious air about him despite his smiling, Keisuke had a feeling this had nothing to do with Keisuke personally, as he had originally feared. He involuntarily sighed a little in relief and relaxed his tense shoulders. 

"So, um, am I in trouble, Mr. Motomi?" Keisuke thought he knew the answer, but to fully alleviate his nervousness, he needed a confirmation. 

"Oh, no, no." Motomi looked a little shocked that Keisuke had come to that conclusion. "Sorry if I worried you. I just have a favor to ask of you." 

"A favor?"

Motomi nodded, his soft eyes hardening slightly and mouth tightening. "Yes. Are you friendly with Takeru?" 

Takeru? Oh! Keisuke had forgotten that was his name; he was rarely called upon in class and he had only heard his name a few times, but of course. Takeru. Takeru was the name of the delinquent kid who was waiting by the gate yesterday and had snuck into class late today. Keisuke's voice was honest, if not slightly apologetic, as he replied, "No, not particularly. I'm not sure that anybody is." 

"Hmm." Motomi stroked his chin, contemplating Keisuke's answer. "Well, this is a bit of a tricky situation, then." 

"What is?" 

Motomi sighed, slightly resigned. "I probably shouldn't be doing this, but unlike some of my colleagues, I want all of my students to succeed." He looked from side to side, making sure that nobody else was around, and went on after a brief pause. "Takeru is going to fail out of school at the rate that he's going. We've been doing what we can, but there's not much a teacher can do when a student fails to show up to half of his classes." Keisuke gulped. He felt bad about Takeru, but he knew that Motomi was right. What could he do in that sort of situation? Motomi continued: "That's why I'm asking you a favor."

Keisuke's voice was soft and small, unsure where Motomi was going with this. "What can I do?" 

"Well, you're a good student who is always on top of his work. Do you think there's any way you can tutor him after school or during lunch?" Motomi frowned a little, scratching the stubble on his chin. "Of course, Takeru needs to agree as well, but with the rate his grades are dropping, my guess is that he doesn't have much choice." 

This wasn't exactly what Keisuke was expecting, but then again, he wasn't sure what to expect. He didn't consider himself as good of a student as Motomi probably thought he was - he wasn't the smartest or most creative, he just worked hard and did his best. Then again, maybe that was what Motomi needed from him. Those weren't qualities that he particularly admired in himself, but maybe they could be useful to someone else. But Takeru...? Keisuke gulped. Takeru did seem like he needed help, but what could Keisuke do? Would tutoring really do anything? 

"It's alright that you're feeling conflicted." Motomi frowned, rubbing his fingers over something in his pants pocket (a pack of cigarettes, Keisuke assumed.) "Takeru doesn't seem like... the easiest person to get along with," he said as tactfully as possible. "However, you seem like you're a good kid who means well, and maybe he'll see that. I'm sure things will be fine." 

Keisuke considered for a moment more, weighing everything in his mind, and slowly nodded. "O-okay. What do I need to do?" 

"Great!" Motomi slapped Keisuke on the back so hard that Keisuke had to swallow a cough. "Just leave it to me - stay in class after homeroom and I'll make sure he shows up for your first session together." 

"Y-yes sir." 

"Alright! Thank you again, you're a lifesaver." As Motomi walked away and Keisuke walked back towards his class, he started wondering if he just got talked into something that was possibly dangerous. He knew nothing about Takeru aside from the rumors that Rin had told him (as well as his own observations). Maybe Takeru was even more dangerous than Rin had warned. His palms started sweating a little. God, he hoped that Rin was wrong. 

Keisuke entered the classroom, and Rin immediately jumped up and waved him over. "Hey, you better hurry up and eat, lunch is going to be over before you know it!" Akira sighed, clearly disapproving of the loudness of Rin's voice. As Keisuke approached their makeshift table, Rin's eyes widened a bit. "Huh? Did you really get in trouble? You don't look so good." Keisuke rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, trying to figure out how to put it. He might as well be in trouble, he supposed. 

Akira looked Keisuke over and swallowed the food in his mouth. "Calm down. Just sit down and eat. You can tell us later if you need to. You'll probably feel better when you're full." Rin made an indignant face at Akira, but Akira shrugged. "You'll find out soon enough." 

Keisuke sighed. "Thanks." He opened his lunch and began to eat. 

 

~~~~~~~~ 

 

Takeru came back to the classroom just before sixth period with a defeated and irritated look on his face. It wasn't a big mystery why: behind him was Motomi, who gently corralled him in while trying to minimize the way he prodded Takeru's back to move him forward. When more than a few curious glances were aimed their way, Motomi grinned and laughed. 

"Ah, Takeru, what a coincidence! You came into class at the same time that I did! Wow!" Motomi, clearing his throat, then promptly walked to the front of the class and swiftly started his lesson, letting Takeru sneak into the back and take out his books while the teacher started discussing similarities between pig and human anatomy. A few kids looked back at Takeru, but most were too startled by the sudden beginning of Motomi's lecture to care. At any rate, after a minute or two, everybody seemed to forget about it. Well, everybody except Keisuke, who was sweating bullets thinking about tutoring this strange delinquent. He didn't dare look back at Takeru, for fear of what the look on Takeru's face might be. 

While Keisuke was typically the sort of person who would always follow the rules (just because it felt like it was what he was supposed to do, and the system hadn't bothered him before), the anxiety mounting within him was growing at an alarming rate and he knew he needed to stop it. As quietly as he could, he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and started a text to Akira. "I'm tutoring Takeru after school today. That's why Mr. Motomi pulled me out into the hallway." Looking around, making sure nobody was looking, Keisuke hit send and waited. He forwarded the message to Rin for good measure. 

Unsurprisingly, Rin was the person who texted back first, within a minute. "WTF?? y did u agree 2 that??? Σ(‘◉⌓◉’)" Keisuke behind him to see Rin giving him the look of a parent who had caught his son doing something inappropriate and incredibly foolish. Sheepishly, Keisuke shrugged. Rin pouted and started texting again. "wtf wtf u wanna die or smth?? (」ﾟヘﾟ)」u kno hes dangerous!!" Keisuke didn't know how to respond, so he answered honestly: "I don't know." He didn't look back, but he heard Rin audibly sigh. "((´д｀)) u need 2 bail theres no way thisll turn out ok" 

As Rin was frantically texting, Keisuke saw Akira pull out his phone and look at it. Akira was typically pretty bad at answering texts, but he must have heard Rin sigh and knew that something was up. Akira blinked in surprise, but slowly started composing a text back. As he did this, Rin had sent Keisuke another one. "wat were u thinking srsly should i skip rugby 2 protect u??? i feel like yr mom (-、-)" Keisuke replied back: "No, I'll be fine. I think." 

After the message sent, he got his message from Akira. "What's the problem? You're a good student and you're patient. Calm down and you'll do great." 

Keisuke sighed deeply. Even though Rin objectively knew more about social situations than either Keisuke or Akira, Keisuke always trusted Akira's advice a little more. Akira never had a lot to say, really, but the few times that he did open his mouth, it was almost always exactly what Keisuke needed to hear - even if it wasn't what Keisuke wanted to hear. This time, however, it was both. That said, Keisuke wasn't without his concerns. "Rin says that Takeru is dangerous and I shouldn't do this." 

Speaking of that, Rin had texted him back. "r u sure ( •᷄ὤ•᷅) i mean u couldnt even say no to tutoring a scary guy who has probably tried to kill ppl b4（−＿−；）" Keisuke bit his lip and looked up to see what Akira was doing. Akira pressed down on the send button and slipped the phone in his pocket, clearly done with this. Keisuke got the text, and smiled a little at what it read: "Rin means well but he loves gossip."

Keisuke closed his eyes and wiped his hands on his pants before sending a final message to Rin. "I'll be okay, worry about practice, I know some of your first big meets are coming up soon." He made it clear that he was turning off his phone so Rin could see and he heard Rin groan softly to himself in resignation. While the nervousness inside of Keisuke didn't dissipate, he felt it turn into something else - a sort of bubbling and churning energy that he couldn't pin a name upon. Whatever it was, it didn't feel bad at any rate. Not that it made this final period go by faster. 

 

~~~~~~~~ 

 

Homeroom and clean-up were had ended, and most of the students were leaving or out of the classroom. Rin sent Keisuke clear body language when he left the room, miming "Text me when it's over!" as loudly as he could without making any noise. Akira had simply given him a rare and small smile as he followed after Rin. Nobody else seemed to know about the arrangement, thankfully, and nobody seemed to notice that Keisuke was staying in his seat.

Keisuke hadn't been able to help but look over his shoulder repeatedly during homeroom, just to see Takeru staring blankly at his books, his mind clearly elsewhere. While Keisuke couldn't know for sure, he was growing increasingly convinced that Rin was wrong about Takeru. He looked rough, sure, but the look on Takeru's face as he gazed at the assignment in front of him wasn't of anger or malcontent. He looked so tired, and not just physically. 

Despite his curiosity, when the time came for Keisuke to start tutoring, he almost had cold feet and left. Hell, he had almost expected Takeru to leave; it wouldn't have been out of character, and he didn't look too happy when Motomi had brought him back into the classroom. However, as the last few people left the classroom, he noticed that he hadn't seen Takeru leave. He gulped. He guessed this was it - no turning back now. 

As he tried to gather his courage, he heard a slightly irritated sigh from the back of the class. 

Keisuke felt himself blush a little in embarrassment and looked back at Takeru, who was staring at his calculus book. He supposed the fact that Takeru sounded more annoyed than he looked was supposed to be comforting, but it wasn't. "Um, let me help you. Sorry." Hastily, he grabbed his book-bag and moved to the back of the classroom. 

Takeru did not offer a friendly greeting, nor did he look at Keisuke when he joined desks with him. Keisuke noticed that the calculus assignment he was looking at was nearly a month old. Yikes. Was he really that far behind? Keisuke had never taught anybody anything before, and it seemed like he had his work cut out for him. 

He wasn't sure if this was the right time, but Keisuke was very keen on formalities. "Uh, sorry, I don't think I've ever introduced myself. I'm Keisuke." He stuck out his hand even though Takeru was still analyzing the problem in front of him. Takeru blinked and looked up, with a vaguely confused. Keisuke looked away, embarrassed again. God. That was so stupid. Of course Takeru knew who he was, there was no reason for him to introduce himself. 

He jumped a little when Takeru took his hand. "Takeru." Takeru's hand was surprisingly warm, albeit a bit dry and coarse - but definitely not hard or worn. Keisuke turned back to see that Takeru was... smiling? It was small and a little weary but it sure looked like a smile. "Man, I haven't shaken somebody's hand during introductions for a long time. Let alone introductions to a person who I've been in class with for nearly two months now. You're a weird guy." Keisuke wasn't exactly sure what his face was doing after Takeru finished talking, but clearly it wasn't something good, because Takeru withdrew his hand and looked somewhat alarmed. "Woah, calm down, I was just teasing you." Now Takeru sounded like the one who was embarrassed, and Keisuke felt bad for making a fool out of both of them. 

Throat dry, Keisuke managed a "sorry" before looking at Takeru's paper a little more thoroughly, anything to change the subject. Ah. That was the problem. "You're going about trying to find the limit all wrong. Here." Keisuke took out a piece of paper and started writing down the solution in detailed steps. Keisuke looked up a few times to see that Takeru was surprisingly attentive, seeming to take in what was being shown to him. After finishing, he cleared his throat. "Sorry I didn't say anything out loud; I thought maybe it would make most sense if I just showed you. Do you have any questions?" 

Takeru shook his head. "Nah, I think I got it." He started getting to work on the rest of the assignment. "Stop me if I'm doing something wrong." 

For the next two hours, it was mostly like that - Takeru doing problems in math and biology and Keisuke just watching. Keisuke was confused. Takeru seemed to know what he was doing for the most part, and Keisuke only corrected him a handful of times. As other students started milling in the hallways as clubs ended, Keisuke couldn't help but ask a question:

"Why do you need my help? You're catching on to some of this stuff quicker than I did." 

This was apparently not a question that should be asked. Takeru's body stiffened and he clutched his pencil a little tighter. Not stopping filling out the chart on human anatomy, Takeru gave a terse reply. "I can't be at school sometimes." Keisuke opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Takeru added, "Issues in the family." 

"Oh." 

Keisuke wasn't sure how to respond. He was an only child and while his parents sometimes got preoccupied in their work, they made it clear that they always loved him and were proud of him. Of course, there were disagreements that every teenager had with his parents, but nothing that lasted very long and Keisuke was glad to defer to his parents a lot of the time. He couldn't imagine what it'd be like to not have the support of his family, or what would happen if one of his parents fell ill or something. 

"I don't want to talk about it." 

"Okay..." 

Takeru looked up at Keisuke, pursing his lips. "Just... don't ask again. I appreciate your help but it's not your business."

"Um, alright. Understood." 

He sighed. "Well, at least I got a lot done today." 

"Yeah!" Keisuke finally saw a place where he could try to switch the mood. "You did great. I'm sure you'll be caught up in no time!" 

Keisuke's words didn't have the intended effect - Takeru lowered his gaze and looked a little defeated. "Yeah. Sure I will." He looked back at Keisuke and there was a moment of uncomfortable silence as some kid slammed a locker very loudly in the hallway. 

"Uh... should we do this again tomorrow?" 

"Can't. Family issues." 

"Oh. Okay... Should I come over to your place?" 

Takeru looked a little alarmed for a moment, and then closed his eye and breathed in through his nose. "No. Don't talk about my family. You don't want to meet them right now." Keisuke gulped, feeling a little foolish for asking. "Next Monday will work." 

That would be another four days - not as frequent as Motomi was probably hoping, but at least it was something. At least Takeru was willing to do more sessions. Keisuke nodded in agreement. "Alright." Takeru had already put away his assignments and books into his big, beaten, bulky backpack. He stood up, slinging the bag over his shoulders, hunching over from the weight. As he left, Keisuke asked one more question. "See you tomorrow?" 

Takeru shrugged. "Yeah, probably." He gave a little wave. "See you. And, um... thanks." His backpack wobbled a little as he walked, the shimmying front pocket the last thing Keisuke saw before Takeru disappeared around the corner and into the hallway. 

It occurred to Keisuke after Takeru walked through the door that this was the most he had ever heard Takeru speak to anyone. He didn't know why that mattered, but deep down, he knew that for some reason it did. 

 

 

 


End file.
